Thawing cold relations: Russia, Ukraine exchange 35 prisoners on each side
MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine traded dozens of prisoners on Saturday in a carefully-negotiated rapprochement that brought Western praise and could thaw a freeze in relations since Moscow’s annexation of the Crimea region in 2014.
While the exchange of 35 prisoners on each side could help rebuild confidence between Moscow and Kiev and allow them to start talking seriously over other issues including a conflict in east Ukraine, full normalisation is a long way off.
Following lengthy talks, a Russian aircraft carrying freed prisoners from Kiev landed in Moscow while a Ukrainian plane with its released prisoners touched down in Kiev.
The freed Ukrainians included 24 sailors detained by Russia during a clash in waters off Crimea last year. Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, jailed in Russia, was also present.
Among those handed to Moscow was Volodymyr Tsemakh, suspected of involvement in downing a Malaysia Airlines flight over rebel-held east Ukraine in 2014 that killed all 298 aboard.
The airliner was on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, and the Dutch government issued a statement saying it “seriously regrets that under pressure from the Russian Federation, Mr Tsemakh was included in this prisoner swap”.
The statement said Dutch prosecutors did, however, get a chance to question Tsemakh before his release. Ukraine’s security service has identified him as a former commander of Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine.
Hugging and shaking hands with the freed Ukrainians, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told reporters the swap was part of his deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Now all steps must be taken “to finish this horrible war,” he added, referring to the east where Russian-backed separatists control a swathe of Ukrainian territory in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people in five years.
Zelenskiy has pledged to end the regular, low-level clashes that persist despite a ceasefire signed in 2015.